Last year I went on my very first camping trip. In May of 2020, two months after the pandemic quarantined America, Kemper decided we should get out of the house in a safe way.

It was a Monday. He looked at me and said, “Want to go camping?”. Umm.. not really! My first thoughts were: it’s hot, there’s bugs, and where will I pee?! At the same time, I really wanted to get out of the house and go somewhere! We had been outdoor adventuring more often – lots of drives, beach trips, and exploring local parks. Camping was another story. 

Long story short, he convinced me to on my first camping trip.

Kemper quickly found a state park with availability, booked a site, and we got to work buying supplies. I read blogs all about what to bring and cook. We made a grocery list. And before you know it, we were actually really going camping. Thursday we purchased the tent, and set it up as a test run in our bedroom 🙂  

That Friday we drove little over 2 hours to General Coffee State Park.

When we arrived, it was somewhat late. There was one park ranger who welcomed us. I was excited but nervous. I knew Kemper booked a backcountry site which meant there would be a bit of a walk in. The ranger drove us to a trail and let us know which direction to walk. We walked, and walked some more, and could not find the site anywhere. So we walked back. 

We called the ranger, who drove back up with a map, and said… 

“I don’t actually know where the campsite is” 

My eyes got wide. 1.5 miles later we found the site. By now, it was dinner time and nearly dark. We put on our headlamps and started setting up. It wasn’t the greatest start to my first camping trip, but it made for a funny story!

The rest of the long weekend trip went much smoother. I put my phone on airplane mode. Our site was 1.5 miles off the trail, so we were isolated. At night you could hear everything, including the nearby train. We cooked on our new camper stove, made fires, enoed, hiked, and just relaxed.

Scarlett didn’t love the tent at first, but the second night she was more at ease. It was fun to see her exploring new places and greeting other dogs along the trails.

General Coffee State Park is split into two parts.

We were staying in one part, while the majority of the attractions and trails were in the other part. We drove over to the ‘main’ section both days to explore. The park has a cute little farm with ducks, chickens, goats, and horses.

One of the big attractions to General Coffee State Park was the water.

I love water. There’s a little lake where you can kayak, and along the trail there are some beautiful marshes. In total we hiked over 18 miles, and enjoyed all of it!  

My first camping trip was a blast!

Conclusive review? Camping is more fun than I thought! We still have A LOT to learn, but for a girl who’d never been camping before, I felt like I did pretty dang good. 

This, friends, is my dream life. It’s not perfect. It’s not always glamorous. But time with my little family in nature? Absolutely priceless.

Comment below and let me know: have you ever been camping?! Do you love it or hate it?

P.S. If you’re looking at camping for the first time, check out my favorite camping essentials!